It's what's on my mind so it's what you get...

In two days I will be going to Sweden. I'm so damn excited I can think of little else and, frankly, these last two days are going to be a blur. Though we're going there for a very serious reason - to help my father-in-law pack up his apartment as he moves into an assisted living place - I'm still looking forward to being in, what I believe, is one of the most wonderful countries on the planet.

I fell in love with Sweden the very first time I ever went there. That was back in 2006, I think. It was November so it was the dark season. In Sweden, they get dark winter days and nights. All of my pictures from that trip look like they were taken at night but most were taken in the afternoon. Still, I fell in love with how beautiful the place was. Every single window, from every apartment, had a lit star hanging in the window. The lights illuminated the winter night and with quiet snow falling it was the coziest winter scene I've ever seen. I was hooked.

I was also taken aback by the cleanliness of the entire place. I didn't really see any garbage in the streets and very little graffiti. In fact, I kind of got the feeling that the Swedes themselves would never graffiti up a building but rather the graffiti was there by the hand of newer immigrants. I was amazed to walk through the subway stations and see complete murals and statues, close enough touch, without a mark on them. That would never happen in the US.

I returned to Sweden a couple of years later. This time, in the summer months. As beautiful as my winter trip had been I have to admit my summer trip was breathtaking! Stockholm is built on 14 islands in an archipelago. Everywhere I went there were open green spaces and water lit by glistening city lights. You can swim right in the city center and the water is clean. Really clean. Swedes pride themselves on being one of the "greenest" countries in the world. Water and air pollution are at a minimum. Swedes recycle with a vengeance. And the penalties for not recycling are harsh. But the thing is, the people understand that it is for the good of all so there is not a problem with people choosing not to do it. They just do it. Because it's the right thing to do.

During my summer trip I was lucky enough to really get to explore. I went to the island of Gotland and visited the ancient Viking city of Visby where Swedish history is so thick you can feel it. It was green and lush and surrounded by the Baltic Sea where I got to swim in it's cold waves and laughed my ass off at being tossed about by those waves. I marveled at the blueness of the Swedish summer sky. In the summer, Sweden has long sunlit days and Swedes know how to take advantage of every single minute of that daylight. I was awed by Sweden's natural beauty and I vowed that one day I would live there.

Lucky for me, I married a Swede! Of course my interest in Sweden begins with meeting my husband. But once I embraced the Swedish way, the land and language, the beauty and the city life, I knew that it was the place for me. I felt at home in Sweden right away, from that very first trip. I felt like I belonged there. I don't have a single drop of Swedish blood in me so I don't know exactly where these feelings come from but I do know that Sweden is calling me.

And so, on Sunday, I'm boarding a plane. I'll be there for ten days. Not long enough but it will have to do for now. IN the meantime, we work to save what we will need to finally call Sweden our home. It's a big dream but I feel deep down that we will get there.

MIdsommar Madness....

So, last night, I threw a little Midsommar party - Swedish style. We held it at my niece's house across the street because she has a big yard and a great big deck. I made Swedish meatballs, boiled eggs with caviar, salmon, new potatoes, cheese, and had lingonberries. My family and friends showed up with noodle casserole, chips and dips, tamales and strawberries. It was also my friend Jamey's birthday so we had a little cake. We sang Swedish songs and danced around a tree in lieu of a Maypole. Oh, and those Swedish songs were drinking songs so there was plenty of schnapps to go around...

and around....

and around...

and....

well, you get the picture.

Today I am nursing a pretty serious hang over. I haven't had a hang over in years so this is not pretty.

Did I have fun? Oh hell yes!
Will I do it again?

Let's just say I'm happy this Midsommar stuff only happens once a year!

The wonder of IKEA...

So, I have long heard of the wonder of IKEA. You know, that Swedish based store where you can get stylish, serviceable furniture that you put together yourself. But I had yet to actually set foot in the place. I'm a member of a web community called The Community of Sweden. We're people from all over the world who have an affinity for Sweden, Swedish style, Swedish food, and, well, sometimes Swedes. The sub-group I hang with from that site is called the "fikaganget". Fika is the Swedish equivalent to a coffee break. Ganget is a made term for gang. We have never met but we know all about each other's lives, where we are in the world, what we do for a living. We send each other warm greetings, laugh at each other's jokes, cry when one of us is ailing or experiencing something bad in life. We just get along and all came together because of our love of Sweden.

But I digress...the reason I brought the fikaganget into this blog is because every last one of them, but me, had already had the IKEA experience. So, last Saturday, Alex and I made the 90 minute drive to Schaumberg, IL to what I can only describe as the second happiest place on earth. IKEA loomed over the highway like a giant blue and yellow monolith. Swarms of eager shoppers, people searching for just the right lamp, or dresser, or end table were teeming in from all ends of the LARGE parking lot. We entered the glass front doors and were immediately swept up the escalator by the throng. Actually, going up at the entry way was the only choice we were given. What laid before us as we ascended was amazing! I mean, we were literally in furniture Valhalla.

We knew exactly what we wanted. We had staked out our plan via the IKEA website before we even left Kenosha. But the yards of bedroom sets put before us was unbelievable. Ironically, the bed we wanted was the first one right off the escalator. We got the specs and the numbers and off we went. As we headed toward the self serve aisles. (Oh, IKEA is all self serve, did you know? I mean totally self serve...even for large items like the pillow top mattress we purchased.) Anyway...as we headed toward the self serve aisles, we filled our cart with pillows (like heaven!), a comforter (like heaven!), new bedding, (heaven again!), new waste baskets, lamps, garbage can, end tables....until our cart was almost toppling over. Then we got two flat carts and loaded it with the bed frame, beams, slatted matt, and queen size mattress! We shuffled all of that to the check out line. Paid up, hauled it all across the store to the Home Delivery line (no way could we get all that home in my Dodge Neon!) and then...we loaded up the car, moved it across the lot, nearer to the door, and went back inside the store to load up a cart chock full of Swedish food! We got meatballs, gravy, potatoes, chocolate, Bilar (chewy marshmallow cars, yum!), cookies, coffees, cereal, hard bread and, yes, the best thing to ever come in a tube, Kalles Caviar. A mere four hours later, we were done. But I tell you, I would go there again in a heart beat. For all that we bought, we paid blessed little. And now, tonight, at last, I will be sleeping on a brand new queen size pillow top Swedish bed with new bedding and new pillows.

Leave it to the Swedes to come up with an idea that reaches the inner recesses of the American consumer. It has it all - style, low price, convenience and food. What's not to love!!?